Google Analytics 4 (GA4) just received a significant upgrade that expands its capabilities for dissecting website traffic. This update introduces eight brand new dimensions, offering a much more granular view of both paid and organic traffic sources.
By introducing eight new traffic-related dimensions, GA4 empowers you to gain a deeper understanding of your audience. You’ll be able to analyse specific details of your paid advertising campaigns, gain insights into click behaviour, see how users refine their search queries after landing on your site, and gauge exactly which referring websites are sending you the most valuable traffic, allowing you to focus your outreach efforts.
While these new dimensions offer a wealth of information, GA4 also allows you to create custom dimensions and metrics.
The New Dimensions:
- Manual source: Assign a custom source label (e.g., “podcast_interview”).
- Manual medium: Categorise the traffic type further (e.g., “audio”).
- Manual source / medium: Combine both for a clear identifier (e.g., “podcast_interview/audio”).
- Manual campaign name: Track specific campaigns (e.g., “Summer Sale”).
- Manual campaign ID: Identify campaigns using unique IDs.
- Manual term: Understand which keywords drove traffic (especially useful for paid search).
- Manual content: Categorise the content that led to the visit (e.g., “blog_post,” “banner_ad”).
- Manual source platform: Specify the platform driving traffic (e.g., “social_media,” “email”).
This lets you capture data points specific to your business goals, providing an even more comprehensive view of your website’s performance.
In short, this GA4 update is a game-changer for marketers. With a richer understanding of your traffic sources and user behaviour, you can make data-driven decisions that optimise your marketing efforts and drive better results.
Demystifying Dimensions in Google Analytics 4
While the new traffic source dimensions in GA4 are exciting, understanding what dimensions are is crucial. Let’s break it down:
Imagine your website traffic data as a giant spreadsheet. Dimensions are the column headers, categorising the data points. They provide the qualitative aspects, describing the “who,” “what,” “when,” and “where” of your website visitors.
Examples of Common Dimensions:
- City: User location (e.g., “Paris”)
- Page: Specific webpage visited (e.g., “/blog/marketing-tips”)
- Device Category: Device used to access the site (e.g., “desktop,” “mobile”)
- Source: Where the traffic originated (e.g., “google,” “social_media”)
- Medium: Traffic type (e.g., “organic,” “referral”)
How Dimensions Work with Metrics:
Dimensions paint the picture, but they need metrics, the numerical values, to complete the story. For instance, the dimension “City” tells you where users come from, while the metric “Sessions” reveals the number of visits from each city.
Remember: Not all dimensions work with all metrics. They must share the same scope (user-level, session-level, or hit-level) for accurate analysis.
What are Manual Traffic Source Dimensions?
GA4 now provides eight new, user-friendly dimensions that categorise your traffic based on custom labels you define, not just pre-set categories like “organic” or “paid.” These dimensions come in three flavours:
- User-scoped: Capture details about the entire user journey (e.g., “influencer_marketing” as the manual source for all visits driven by an influencer campaign).
- Session-scoped: Focus on specific sessions (e.g., “podcast_episode_1” for traffic originating from a particular podcast episode).
- Event-scoped: Gain granular insights into user actions (e.g., “webinar_registration” as the manual source for users who registered for a webinar).
Why Do The New Dimensions Matter?
The new dimensions on Google Analytics 4 go beyond the basic “organic” or “paid” labels. They offer granularity, allowing you to:
- Analyse user behaviour across channels: See how users interact with your content from different sources (e.g., podcast listeners vs. social media referrals).
- Build more precise reports: Tailor reports to specific campaigns or content types.
- Create powerful segments: Isolate user groups based on detailed traffic source data.
- Gain deeper audience insights: Understand what content resonates with different audiences based on how they found you.
Ultimately, this translates to:
- Better content strategy optimisation: Tailor content to the channels and audiences that perform best.
- Improved marketing campaign performance: Measure the effectiveness of various campaigns with greater accuracy.
- Smarter resource allocation: Invest in the marketing tactics that deliver the highest ROI.
How To Master The New Dimensions Of Google Analytics 4?
Are you ready to level up your traffic analysis in Google Analytics 4 (GA4)? This update introduces a powerful set of manual traffic source dimensions, offering unparalleled insights into user behaviour across channels and platforms.
- Explore the Available Dimensions: Dive into the GA4 interface to discover the full range of dimensions at your disposal.
- Think Strategically: Identify the dimensions most relevant to your business goals.
- Combine for Deeper Insights: Use multiple dimensions together to uncover hidden patterns in your data (e.g., analyse user behaviour by device category and source).
- Segment Like a Pro: Leverage dimensions to create targeted user segments for focused analysis and marketing campaigns.
By understanding and using dimensions effectively, you can transform your raw website data into actionable insights, fueling smarter marketing decisions.
Top 4 Benefits for Cross-Channel Analysis:
Gone are the days of siloed data analysis! These dimensions empower you to:
- Craft Cross-Channel Reports: Analyse user behaviour across all channels with consistent categorisation.
- Build Powerful Explorations: Uncover hidden patterns in your traffic data by combining manual dimensions with other metrics and dimensions.
- Create Targeted Segments: Isolate user groups based on specific traffic sources for laser-focused analysis and marketing campaigns.
- Gain Deeper Audience Insights: Understand what content resonates with different audiences based on how they find you.
You have two ways to populate these dimensions:
- UTM Parameters in Click URLs (Websites): Utilise standard UTM parameters like utm_source and utm_medium in your website’s click URLs.
- New UTM Values in Firebase Analytics Event (Mobile Apps): Leverage the new CAMPAIGN_ID and SOURCE_PLATFORM parameters within the campaign_details event for your mobile app.
GA4 introduces a brand new Manual Report specifically designed for these dimensions. Access it within the “Acquisition overview” report under the “Life cycle” collection. This report provides a dedicated space to analyse traffic tagged with your custom labels.
Before you get started, here are a few points to keep in mind:
- Familiarise yourself with the new dimensions: Explore them within the GA4 interface.
- Develop a tagging strategy: Decide how you’ll leverage these dimensions for your specific needs (e.g., UTM parameters, manual tagging within the platform).
- Start segmenting and analysing: Use the new data to gain insights and optimise your marketing efforts.
By utilising these new dimensions effectively, you can unlock a wealth of valuable information about your traffic sources and create a data-driven marketing strategy for success.
Need a fresh perspective? Let’s talk.
At 360 OM, we specialise in helping businesses take their marketing efforts to the next level. Our team stays on top of industry trends, uses data-informed decisions to maximise your ROI, and provides full transparency through comprehensive reports.
